Two military personnel killed in Karachi gun attack

KARACHI: Unknown assailants opened fire on a vehicle of security personnel, killing two officers in Saddar area of Karachi on Tuesday.

According to the media reports, the deceased security personnel were identified as Abdul Razzaq and Khadim Hussain. They died on the way to hospital.

Dr Seemi Jamali, Director Emergency Department at Jinnah Hospital, confirmed the death of both personnel.

The vehicle was passing through road adjacent to Parking Plaza when the attackers ambushed them and opened fire.

Police and other law enforcement personnel reached the scene and cordoned off the area.

"Two jawans belonging to a security institution were attacked in their vehicle. Our investigators are examining the crime scene," Karachi police chief Mushtaq Maher told reporters.

"Our forensic experts are looking for fingerprints, empty bullet shells, CCTV footage or any other clues, and we will inform you as soon as there are any updates," he said.

When asked, he said that police would try to "ascertain if there are links to any such earlier shooting incidents in the city".

According to initial reports from Counter-Terrorism Department officials, a 9mm pistol was used in the attack, with empty 9mm bullet shells found from the scene of the crime.

"9mm weapon was used in the attack. Both jawans were shot in the head," the chief of police's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Raja Umar Khattab told reporters.

Khattab said that the attackers approached the vehicle from the rear and attacked the personnel from the left side of the vehicle.

In December last year two army men were gunned down in a parked military vehicle at M.A. Jinnah Road, a few kilometres away from Tuesday´s incident.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack on military personnel in Karachi and vowed not to let the terrorists derail the operation to cleanse the city of such elements.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Interior and government of Sindh to hunt down the perpetrators.

“We will not allow the terrorists to derail the ongoing operation for restoration of peace in Karachi,” the Prime Minister said in a statement released by the PM s Media Office.

The Prime Minister prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls and for courage to the bereaved families to bear the irreparable loss.